Automatic means for lowering life-boats.



R. TJADER.

AUTOMATIC MEANS FOR LOWBRING LIFE BOATS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 5, 1914.

, 1, 1 1 6,956. Patented Nov. 10, 1914. I 4 SHEETS-SHEET 1Y f i 5 OW/TNESSES ATTORNEYS nR. TJADER.

AUTOMATIC MEA'NS FOR LOWERING LIFEYBOATS.l

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 5, 1914.

4 SHEETS-"SHEET 2.

M i By i W Q A NORA/EVS Patented Nov. 10, 1914.

R. TJADER.

AUTOMATIC MEANS BOR LOW-BRING LIFT; BOATS.

1 APPLICATION FILED JAN.5, 1914. v 1,1 1 6,956, Patented Nov. 10, 1914.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

/N VEN TOR I WC/fm@ naaf/ By Arromvfrs R. TJADER.

.AUTOMATIC MEANS POR LOWERING LIFE BOATS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 5, 1914.

1, 1 1 6,956. Patented Nov. 10, 1914.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.A

' By l i Arron/VHS naar ser matassa Specification o Leters mjplimationlel Januari? 5, 1914.. Serial No. B.

{@slienteelwem im, fnd

.To allfwhom it concern Be it known that l, RICHARD Tunas, a citizen ofthe United States, and a resident of .the city'o New York, borough ofManv hattan, in theoounty and State of New York, have inventedv a newmatic Means for Lowering Life-Boats, of

which thegollowing is a full, clear, and exact e 16. The ogee bars aresecured at their lower ships and has particular. reference to means forsupporting ite boats on the decks of ships and also for f up 'towardtheir tops. The shape of the bars description.

This invention relates to the rapid manipulation of the life boatseither 'for hoisting or launching, more particularly the latter. v

Among the objects of tion, distinguishing -it from said lpreviousdevice, is to so improve provide ing the life boat While in its 'normalposition on shipboard Yand to increase 'the sa of the passengers whiletherein.

Another object .of this invention fis to economze the space which may beused for the storage or support of life boats, and by specialconstruction of 'supporting means -I provide accommodation for twovlifeboats, one above the other, said boats being adapted to be launched insuccession from or'by the same pair of davits.

The foregoing and many other objects of the invention will hereinafterbe more fully described and claimed and illustrated in the drawingsforming a part of this specification in which like characters ofreference indicate `corresponding parts in all the views, and in whichwa Figure l is an end elevation of the improvement; same; Fig. 3'is aplan view; Fi 4 is a vertical section'throughv the cable rum; Fig. 5 isa detail side view of a special formof gearing employed for controllingthe operation ofthe highest drum; and Fig. 6 1s a modification of thesupportin chair.

The several arts lthe evice may be made of any suitable materials, andthe relative sizes and proportions, as wellr as the general design of'the mechanism, may be varied to a considerable .extent without deartingfrom the s irit of the invention ereinafter more :ful y set forth andspecifically claimed. t

Referring more particularly tothe drawings, i show at 10 and 11standards fixed in any -suitabie stationary and )Improved Autothepresent inventhe mechanism as to f for the increased acilities forVverrterfew being lowered 4 'porting `structure,

Fig. "2 is a rear elevation of the to and is supported and downwardmovement,

suitable means tothe deck ci a ship. Said standards are preferably offangie or channel construction, and each of them is shown as beingsupported 'in position by trame and brace members including a base l2, o.geeshaped bars i3, and any suitable number or arrangement of `diagonalbraces le, fand position and by any 'i ends to the 4outer ends o thebase members l2 by means upper ends connected to of angle brackets andat their the standards well 13 contributes 'um oniy to their appearancebut to the facility for ymovement of the boat into and out of normalposition. The diagonal braces 14am-e' secured at one 'end to thebrackets and at their other ends to the standards between vthe 1lowerends thereof and the oint of connection of "the ogee bars. The ars 15serve 'not only as additional stiifening and strengthening means vforthe supbemg connected .at one end to a corner bracket '18 at the foot ofthe standards and at their upper ends to the middle portion of the ogeebars, but they also serve as :means for steadying and guidlng launchedor hoisted, as will ybe describe further below. 'The davit arms aresupported upon curved supports l21' adapted vto roll' through a limitedamount of movement upon the base members 12 as indicated in full anddotted lines in Fig. 1, but the supports in this instance, instead ofbeing circular arcs or segments, are rather ellipticalfwhereby when thedavit. arms are moved outwardly to lower a boat the special elongatedform ofthe su ports causes them to impart to the boat a lifting eleotrelative to the simple roll-ing eect ofsegmental supports as heretoforeused.4 In this instance the armsare received and held. in stable steadyposition throughout 'the major portion of their length. within segments21 is shown provided with a stud 22 movable in and-along a slot 15formed in a diagonal brace 1'5. The stud 22 moves along the slot untilthe davit support 21 rolls usplon its outer point. In ock which might,un.- result from lthe stopping ofthe davitanns on their outward Iprovide cushthel form of order to relieve the lder certainoircunfistanees,v

ioning devices 23 shown in springs connected to the braces" '14 .and

the davit arms 19 while the boat is being the standards 10 and' 1l.'Each of the A employed in connection with any one of a any desiredintermediate series of holes along braces 15 for the purpose ofsupporting the boat temporarily at position, whereby crushing of theboat during launching on heavy seas may be prevente The main support forthe boat consists of a chair 24 having abase 25 and a hookshapedadjustable upper end 26 adapted to engage over or receive the gunwale 27of the life boat. The -keel 28 engages and is supported by one or morelifting cam members 29 secured to a rock shaft 29a, and the position ofwhich is controlled by means of a lever 30. The controlling lever 30 forthe rock shaft 29may be manipulated in any desired manner from the upperside of the structure as, for instance, through a hand lever 59 pivotedupon the frame which supports the main power drum. The throw of the cams29 vis made effective to lift the boat when the latter is being hoistedso as to cause the gunwale of the boat to come snugly up within thehooks 26 and 26a, the boat keel being carried by the cams by virtue of alug 3l on each cam engaging withthe outer face of said keel. The hooks26a are secured to the standards. The life boat is steadied and heldsecurely in its normal position by reason of dogs 32-pivoted upon anysuitable points of the structure, and having their outer endsco-perating snugly With the inner face ofthe keel. When the boat hasbeen lowered, the dogs 32 rest upon cam flanges or extensions 32a readyto be engaged by the keel on the subsequent hoisting of the boat, andsai-d dogs are ele# Vated by said extensions and by the keelautomatically while the hoisting of the boat is being completed.

rlhe power means for controlling the life boat in connection with themechanism above described includes a pair of cables 35 which are eachconnected at one end at 36 to the upper'end of the adjacent davit arm. Asheave 37 is journaled in'said arm adjacent the point 36 and thetraveling pulley 38, having connection by chains 39 in any suitablemanner for quick detachment of the boat after it is launched, operatesin the bight of'cable 35 below the sheave 37 T he cable 35 from thesheave 37 passes inwardly and over a sheave 40 journaled at the upperend of the adjacent standard l0 or ll, passes thence downwardly alongthe rear wall of the channel member constituting said stand-t ard, t0 adirection pulley 4l near the bottom of thegstandard, and thence to adrum 42 connected to a shaft 43 herein shown as vertically arranged, butwhich might be otherwise arranged, if desired, and connected to suitablegearing 44 and 45. By providing two parts 42n and 42h' for the drum andmounting them upon the shaft 43 in such a manner as to release either ofthem for rotation independently of the other, l provide a means wherebythe life boat may be leveled even though the ship may with one end aheadof the other. stance, should a ship be sinking stem foremost, the lifeboat eing held normally by the supporting means in a position parallelto the axis of the ship would be in an in'- clined position. I thereforeso arrange that the stern end of the life boat may be lowered by payingout one of the drum sections, while the other remains stationary, so asto level the life boat. By lifting up on either of the drum sections,either by a hand spike or lever of any convenient nature. the drumsection so lifted may be set free from thekey or polygonal portion 42cof the shaft which normally makes driving connection between the shaftand drum, and the lifting means for the drum may serve not only as ameans for detaching the drum in the way described but also as a brakefor controlling the speed or extent of such independent rotation of thesection, but when the lever is removed the drum section so detached fromthe shaft will automatically'connect itself through said key orshouldered portion.

As indicated especially in Fig. 4., the disk 42d is secured to the shaft43 between the upper and lower drum parts 42a and 42b and close totheshouldered part 42C. This disk is normally spaced from the lower drumpart 42h and serves as a brake element in connection with the upper endof the drum part 42b when the latter is lifted out of engagement withits shouldered part 42. 'lhe upper drum part is adapted to cooperate ina similar manner with the worm wheel 44. By this means the rotation ofeither drum part may be precisely controlled by the means abovedescribed.

The gearing may be of any suitable type for power efficiency and safety,but shown herein as being worm gearing of substantially 45 degreespitch, whereby, upon .rotation of the worm 45 through a power shaft 46,the worin wheel44 may 'be rotated powerfully to wind up the cables uponthe two parts of the drum, and yet the pitch o f the worm is such thatit will not constitute a lock preventing the automatic unwinding of thecables from the drum. At this point it is observed that one of theimportant; features of novelty and advantage in this invention is theprovision for automatic lowering of the boat even though the last man isleaving the ship in such boat. The rotation of the shaft 46 may becontrolled in any suitable manner, and to illustrate suchcontrollingmeans I show a wheel 47 having a handle 48 whereby it may be rotated toWind up the cables, such wheel also serving as a brake wheel to controlthe speed at which For inist rconstituting the bights 35',

' raisers the boat is being lowered. Thebrake shoe 49 is pvoted at 50upon the frame in which the drum is mounted, and the lever 5l extendingfrom said shoe has connected to its opposite end a line 52 leading intothe'boat, whereby an occupant of the boat may have control of the speedof descent of the boat. A portion of the line 52 between the brake andthe boat is carried in a keeper or eye 53 in the edge of the deck 54oEach of the pulleys 38 is carried in a shackle 55 having gud eens 56supported normally upon a pair o hooks 57 constituting a part of theupper end of the adjacent davit arm. lt will be noted, therefore, thatthe cables 35, by virtue of the hooks 57 and the means for supportingthe keel of the boat, are always normally relieved from the weight ofthe boat. The shackles 55 remain in engagement with said hooks, due tothe shape of the hooks and the fact that there is always a certainamount ofy strain upon the cables 35 after the boat leaves its normalsupports, until the davit arms pass well outwardly or until stopped. inthe manner above described. From this time onward until the boat isfully launched, the weight of the boat is sustained through the pulleys38 upon the two parts the speed at the drum 42 which the cables pay outfrom the brake being determined by the action of above described.

By the provision of the herein discribed means for the easy and safemanipulation of life boats even when fully loaded, l am able to loadsuch boats while held in normal position upon the deck of the shipinstead of following the usual practice of loading them from the side ofthe ship while the boats are being held in an unstable position inmidair. Either the chair orthe standards 10 and 11 may be utilized as ameans for assisting passengers to enter the boat. For `this purpose Ishow ladders 58 arranged as a. part of the permanent stationarystructure and of suicient height and suitably located so that, thepassengers may utilize them to enter the boat.

Having thus described the preferred construction of mechanism,theoperationmay be briefly summarized as follows: With the parts in thenormal position and with the boat loaded, the operator will release thelever 59 from the arm 30 so as to cause the cams 29 to swing outwardly,releasing the hold of the lugs 3l upon the keel. A slight pull on thepart of the operator is sucient A to throw the cams around or beyond theaxis thereof, setting the boat free to gravitate, automaticallyreleasing itself from the hooks 26 and causing the davit arms 19 and 20to or roll outwardly and downwardly by virtue of the supports 21. If theo erator remains on deck he may contro the of the cables :speed ofdescent of the boat by applying friction to the brake wheel 47, or succontrol may be had from the life boat, if desired, through the line 52.The peculiar arrangement of the main. cables 35 upon the drum 42provides that the least amount of strain upon the shaft 43 and itsbearings t will result, the two cables acting upon op,- posite sides 'ofthe axis of the drum, and the cables paying out or winding on the drumin unison. Upon the hoisting or restoring to position of the boat, thearms 19 and 20 will remain in the outward position until the shackles 55strike the ends ofthe arms, and then the subsequent draft upon thecables 58 will insure the guidance of the shackles along the slotsleading to the hooks and the proper seating thereof of the hooks and thesubsequent vlifting of the arms into the normal position. Upon theswinging of the lever 30 so asv to hoist the boat keel, as y abovedescribed, and the locking of said lever by the lever 59, the boat willbe maintained 1n firm and secure position,being supported from aboveupon the shackles and arms and from below upon the cams between the lugs3l and the dogs 32. This arrangement, furthermore, provides that theboat may be manipulated by connections at any desired distance fromltheends o the boat, a matter of considerable importance when it isconsidered that boats of various len'fths are met with, and for otherreasons. o ach of the cams or lifting members 29 is preferably providedwith a lug 60 opposite and spaced inwardly from the above described lug31. The purpose of the lugs 60 on the several cam mem ers is to assistin steadying the keel of the boat supported upon sald members, but moreparticularly it is to provide a means for positively starting the boaton its downward automatic movement in the event of the ship having alist and the boat being located on the u per side of the ship. In otherwords, when t e life boat is heavily `loaded and lying hence with litscenter of gravity well inward from the vertical plane coincident 'withthe axis of the rock shaft 29, some means is necessary for initiatingthe downward movement of the life boa-t so as to throw it outward and toenable the keel tpl glide downward below or beyond said rock s a Asshown in the preferred form of the invention, the drum 42 is housedwithin the base 25 of the chair 24 and far enough inwardly toaccommodate a second or auxiliary boat beneath the primary boat at theto the device. After the upper or primary oat has been launched in t emanner above set forth, the secondary boat may be loaded and launched bthe use of the same davits. Said secondary oats is normally supportedupon a carriage 61 havin operating along an beneath channelmemantifriction rollers 62- ing hooks 26, actuating cams 29 and dogsheld normally in 32. The special advantage of the elliptical :form ofcurved supports 21, in addition to the steadying of the first part ofthe launching operation, is to insure a sutcient clearance for theprimary boat as it passes above or over the edge of the secondary boatwhile the latter remains in its normal position by virtue of the liftingeiect of the davit arms as they roll outwardly from normal position.

causlng the points of contact thereof with the base members to shiftfrom their longer to their shorter radii. Said carriage 61 wi th thesecondary boat supported thereon may be retained in its normal positiondirectly beneath the primary boat by any suitable means. For instance,'may use a chuck or a removable pin 64st either or both ends of thecarriage.

In Fig. 6 l show a modification of a chair or supporting device which isused especially on freight Steamers or the like, where there is ampleroom for such number of life boats as are required for such service andwhere a single boat-will be accommodated on or in connection with aypair of davits. ln this form of the device the drum is located wellbelow the normal position of the boat, providing a more compactarrangement for the operating devices.

Having thus described my invention, i ciaim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent:-

l. ln automatic means for lowering life boats, the combination .withstationary standards, base and bracing means for said standards, a pairof davit arms including elliptical supports adapted to roll upon saidbase members, each of said arms constituting a straight extension of aradial edge of its curved support, means to support a boat normally uponthe upper ends of said arms, the arms and their supports being soarranged as to be unstable position whereby when the boat is releasedthe arms will swing outwardly and downwardly automatically, and inet-.nsto secure the boat keel in normal lined position.

2. In a device of the character set forth, the combination of standards,means to secure the standards in stationary upright postion and eachincluding a channel member, a pair of davit arms coperating with saidstandards, each of said arms being normally supported in steady positionwithin the standard channel adjacent thereto, an elliptical support foreach arm, said support alsokbeing housed within the standard channel andstanding inI unstable position 3. In a device of the character setforth,

the combination of a pair of standards, each including an uprightmember, a base member extending outwardly from the bottom of thestandard, a series of brace members coperating with said base member andsaid uprlght, a pair of davit arms coperating with said standards, eachof said arms including an elliptical support adapted to roll upon t eadjacent base, means to conne the support to certain positions ormovements with relation to the standard, said means including a stud andgroove connection between the support and one of said braces, theV studbeing carried by the support adjacent the end of its flatter curvedportion and movable along the slot in approximately a straight path dueto the ellipticity of the rolling support, means coperating with theupper ends of the arm to support a boat therefrom, supplementalsupporting means for the keel of the boat, and mechanism to control thespeed of descent of the boat.,

4. ln a device of the class set forth, the combination with a life boatand means for hoisting and lowering the same, of means for normallysupporting the keel of the boat in definite iixed position, said keelsupporting means including rotary members adapted to engage one :tace ofthe keel and pivoted members adapted to cooperate with the other face ofthe keel, substantially as set fort-h.

5. in a device of the class set forth, the combination with a life boatand means for hoisting and lowering the same, of means for normallysupporting the keel of the boat in definite iiXed position, said keelsupporting means including a plurality of coaxially arranged rotary camswhereby the boat may be hoisted to iinal position, each of said camshaving a lug engaging against the Youter face of the keel, the oppositeside of the keel, the free ends of said dogs being engaged by the keelwhile it is moving into iinal position and said dogs vserving tocoperate with said cam lugs to prevent all lateral vibration of thebottom of the boat.

6. ln a supporting device for a life boat, the combination of a chairhaving a hook at its upper end adapted to engage and hold the gunwale ofa boat, a plurality of coaxially journaled cams having lugs to engagethe outer face of the keel, means to rotate the cams simultaneously,means to hoist the boat causing the gunwale to come into engagingposition with respect to said hook,

pivoted dogs on and a plurality of members pivoted at stationary pointsindependently of the cams and adapted to coperate witthe inner face ofthe keel. l

7. ln a lifeboat launching device, the combination of supports, avertical drum shaft, a two-part drum mounted upon said drum shaft, eachpart of the drum being interlocked with the shaft in its normal positionand being adapted to slide upwardly from said position' so as to be freetoprotate independently. of the shaft, braking means secured to theshaft between the drum parts, iiexible connections extending between theboat supports and the drum parts, and means to control the rotation lofthe drum shaft, substantially as Set forth.

8. in a lifeboat launching device, the combination of a pair of davitarms, means to support a lifeboat upon said davit arms including iexibleconnections, a vertical drum shaft, means to control the rotation of thedrum shaft, said drum shaft having a pair of polygonal shoulders, twoindependent drum elements journaled loosely upon said shaft andinterlocking normally by the action of gravity with saidshoulderedportions of the shaft but slidable upwardly for disconnection therefromfor rotation independently of each other, and means to guide said embleconnections to said drum elements where they are connected at their endsopposite the boat.

9. ln a lifeboat launching apparatus, the combination of a pair of rigidstandards fixed in stationary Vposition upon ya ship, each of saidstandards comprising a baseand a chair portion having an arm extendinoutwardly toward the side of the ship su stantiall7 parallel to the baseand spaced upwar ly therefrom suiiciently far to receive a lifeboatadjacent the base, a pair of movable davit arms Yassociated with thestandards and operating upon the base portions thereof, means to supporta lifeboat above the outwardly extendlng arms, a pair of iiexibleconnections extending from the davit arms for manipulating thelifeboats, power devices for controlling the exible connections, andmeans housing the power devices between said standards but at one sideor inwardly from the plane common to said standards whereby the powerdevices may be manipulated without interference with either of saidlifeboats.

fn testimony whereof have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.-

RICHARD TJADER.

Witnesses:

C. M. NICHOLSON, A. J. WEBTLING.

